This winter had two damascus projects fail.  I was struggling with them.  Last week I pulled them out of the bin, broke them open at the failed weld, heated and flatten them out.  Cleaned up, stacked, boom got them to weld together.  Drew out in a square then twisted.  Flattened cut, stacked and final weld.  I have no idea how many layers, but it turned out nicely.  Still can't figure out why my welds failed this winter.  Anyway this is what came out.  Just glad I could salvage it.

Beautiful pattern! Glad you persevered!

 SGM:

Hello:

To maybe answer your question ref the weld failure..I have been doing this for a couple of years now and I have found  ( I could be wrong here ) that most weld failures are due to three things:

1: Dirty weld surfaces..Make sure you clean the weld surfaces and you use a good flux

2: Not hot enough: Do a "soak:" at welding heat until you think it is heated through and then give is another 15 seconds....DO NOT OVER HEAT. 

3: (Not really a weld "failure)  Steels welded have  non-compatible working characteristics..Ie they move under the hammer at a different rate..This is more of a weld shear than a "failed weld".. Looks the same

The photo you posted the steel looks pretty clean so what you are doing seems to be working... These are just my  unsolicited suggestions as to what could of went sideways..

JPH

Since you are in Denmark and you mentioned winter I would ask if your anvil was too cold?

Ive always wondered if its a myth of anvil being too cold in winter.  in winter at say at 20F its only 50 degrees colder than average room temp of 70F,  what is 50 degrees difference to a 2000F section of steel ?

Well, it is a rather small piece of steel being placed on a much larger, cooler piece of steel.  I thought that I recall some advice to preheat or at the least, to warm the anvil.

I've often wondered the same thing.  Even a warmed-up anvil on a hot day is looks really, really cold to a piece of steel at welding heat.  On the other hand, prewarming an anvil could help keep the edges from chipping, and make you more comfortable -- low temperature embrittlement and radiant cooling are both things.  If you got an extra blow on each heat, that would be a bonus.

On 4/21/2026 at 4:15 PM, LeeJustice said:

Well, it is a rather small piece of steel being placed on a much larger, cooler piece of steel.  

We are always placing a hot section of steel on a colder one lol

I was taught to "warm up" by making a leaf or S-hook. That does 2 things it warms up your muscles and the anvil's sweet spot. It does help when setting a forge weld.

I can’t control the wind. All I can do is adjust my sails. ~Semper Paratus~ USCG 1964-1970